AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

For Jess B.,

in honor of her own AMAZING adventures
in the world of work.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in

part or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
For information regarding permission, write to
Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Produced by Imagination Ink., based on a design by Kathy Massaro.
ISBN: 0-439-16524-5
Copyright 2001 by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Abby Alligator is ready to work.

What will Abby do?

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Abby wants to be an acrobat.

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

But shes afraid of falling.

5
AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Abby wants to be an artist.

But she can only paint apples.

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Abby wants to be an animal doctor.

But shes allergic to aardvarks.

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Abby wants to be an astronaut.

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

But she meets an angry alien.

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Uh-oh. I forgot
my lines again.

Abby wants to be an actor.

10

But she is awful.

11
AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Abby cant think of any other jobs.

12

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Then Abby has an AMAZING idea.

Ill be an author! Abby says.

13

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Abby Alligator writes all about her adventures

as an acrobat, an artist, an animal doctor,
an astronaut, and an actor.
14

Being an author is AWESOME!

15

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

How many things can you find

that begin with the letter A?

16

See page 1 9 for answers.

17
AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Aa Cheer
A is for alligator and acorns on trees
A is for Ah-choo! when you sneeze
A is for apples baked in a pie
A is for airplane up in the sky
Hooray for A, big and small
the most awesome, amazing letter of all!

18

n
i
d
g
a
T ips
Re

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources

Here are some quick and fun ways to use this story to help
children build important alphabet recognition skills.
Ask children to find big A and small a at the top of the front cover. Review the long A/a and
short A/a sounds with children. Can they find three words in the title that begin with the letter
A/a? Read the title aloud, emphasizing the A/a sound as appropriate.
Flip the book over and read the story summary on the back cover. Ask children to point out
words they hear or see that begin with A/a. Explain that the story you are about to read
includes many more words that begin with the letter A/a. Can they help you find them?
Read the story aloud once for pleasure and enjoy together the whimsical illustrations. Then
reread the book, emphasizing the initial A/a sound in the appropriate words. Ask children to
listen closely for and identify all the words that start with A/a. Point out these words in the text,
and make a list of them.
Write each of the words from your list on an unlined index card. Read each word on the cards
aloud with children. On another reading of the story, children can match the words on the
index cards with the words in the story.
Pages 16-1
17 of the book depict a busy scene full of A/a words. Some of these words have
been introduced in the story, but a few are new. Ask children to find as many A/a words as
they can. Add any new words to your list. The A/a words depicted in the scene include:
alligator, apples, ants, acorns, aardvark, artist, astronaut, airplane. (Children may come up
with other A/a words on their own!)
Read aloud the cheer on page 18 several times, with lots of energy and enthusiasm. Invite
children to join you in reciting the cheer when they feel ready. Encourage them to find any
new A/a words in the cheer. Again, add these words to your list.
Dont let your exploration of the letter A/a end with the story! Display your list of words in a
place where children can easily see it. During the rest of the day or week, children can add
new A/a words that they encounter in other books, on signs, on food labels, and so on.

19

AlphaTales: The Adventures of Abby Alligator Scholastic Teaching Resources